2023 NFL Week 11 Odds: Looking For Underdog Winners
Several Dogs Could be Barking on Sunday
As the NFL season moves along, it’s getting a little bit harder to find underdogs with a good chance to win outright. Good teams are trying hard to lock in playoff berths. Poor teams are trying not to win to give themselves better draft picks. But there are typically a few teams on the NFL schedule capable of winning as an underdog and we’ll look at two of them in this article. The 2023 NFL Week 11 odds have quite a few large favorites, but several smaller favorites who are a little shaky.
Arizona Cardinals at Houston Texans
Date, time:
Line: Houston -5 | Total: 49
Location: NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
The Arizona Cardinals welcomed the return of Kyler Murray last week and despite a bit of rust at times, he looked solid. He’s also made things a bit difficult for NFL bettors, as Arizona’s stats were developed with different quarterbacks. It’s made things tough for the sportsbook, also, as the NFL betting lines are a bit of guessing game with Murray back in the line-up.
On the bright side, it took Murray one week to earn the same number of wins as the Cardinals earned in their first nine games. While it may hurt Arizona a bit in draft positioning, it’s one of the few teams who doesn’t mind winning. The team needs to decide if Murray is going to be part of the program moving forward or if it’s time to look elsewhere.
The Texans don’t have any such problems, as CJ Stroud is the quarterback of the present and the future. The likely NFL Rookie of the Year has been impressive and is getting better. But now, he’ll start to feel a little additional pressure of the playoff chase. He’s handled everything well so far. And there’s no reason to think this will be any different. The 2023 NFL Week 11 odds have the Texans favored by 5 points over the Cardinals and the total on the game is 49.
But the Cardinals defend the pass a bit. They’re not great. But they’re not terrible, either. That’s a good thing for a 2-8 team.
Houston’s weakness on defense is against the pass. With a game under his belt, Murray could show improvement from his first game since January. If that’s the case, Arizona can stay in this game and possibly pull out the victory late. The Cardinals should be one of your NFL Week 11 picks.
Minnesota Vikings at Denver Broncos
Date, time:
Line: Denver -2.5 | Total: 42.5
Location: Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
The Minnesota Vikings visit the Denver Broncos riding a five-game winning streak. Joshua Dobbs has led the team to victory the last two games and will be underneath center once again. He’s surrounded by better players with the Vikings and his arsenal is about to get better.
It’s a matter of when. Justin Jefferson could go this week. But the Vikings want him at 100% before he returns and you can’t blame them. The fact they’ve won every game since he’s been sidelined makes the decision that much easier.
The 2023 NFL Week 11 odds have Denver favored by 2.5 points and the total on the game is 42.5. The Broncos have won three straight, with the last two coming against Kansas City and Buffalo. Maybe those who wrote off Sean Payton after the Broncos 1-5 start were a bit premature.
Minnesota doesn’t run the ball well, which has been Denver’s biggest weakness. But the Vikings have been a whole lot better with Dobbs playing quarterback. After having just two games with more than 100 rushing yards in their first eight games, the Vikings have had 125 and 146 rushing yards in the games Dobbs has played.
Dobbs plays a part of that, rushing for 110 yards in his two games. He also makes the defense account for him, which opens up other areas for the offense.
The Broncos have been playing well against top-notch teams. The offense has been efficient and the defense is playing better. But the Broncos were outgained in each of their last two victories. That’s frequently a sign that things are about to change. If the Vikings can continue to take care of the football, this is a game they can win. And after their slow start, Minnesota can’t afford not to be ready to play. Take the Vikings in this one.
